AS HE STOOD IN THE sacristy at St. Boniface Catholic Church, Fr. Francis Ang felt the magnitude of the moment—the journey he had taken to this point, and the voyage yet to begin.
One door opening, another closing. Arrayed about throughout the room were familiar objects of a Catholic Mass: the sacred vestments, altar items, chalices and candles. Familiar, sure, but on this day carrying an aura of newness, of rebirth into something novel, an unfolding story, a chapter just begun. It was Francis’ first full day as an ordained priest, and he had been chosen to celebrate his first Mass. And not for just any ceremony, but the Feast of Corpus Christi.
FR. FRANCIS ANG CELEBRATES MASS ON JUNE 7 WHICH IS THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI, ALSO KNOWN AS THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. PHOTOS BY IAN TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
And for a day at least, Fr. Francis was back at his childhood home church in Anaheim before beginning his full-time assignment at St. Polycarp in Stanton.
“I used to be an altar server here and was about to go full circle,” he said. “It was very surreal. Basically, it was really my family and my village that brought me here.”
Filling the large nave of the church were Fr. Francis’ mother, Margot, father, Frankie and brother, Seminarian Travis Ang, as well as family from the Philippines, Australia, France and across the United States. There were former seminary classmates and colleagues, old high school friends and former medical coworkers from Fr. Francis’ time as a nurse. There was the congregation, many of whom had known the new priest from childhood. Also on hand were about 20 fellow priests from across the diocese.
Ready to share the sanctuary with Fr. Francis were not just altar servers, but leaders of the Diocese of Orange, including Bishop Kevin Vann and Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Freyer, who would serve as the homilist.
“To see all these people present …” Fr. Francis halts mid-sentence to gather himself. “God really put this story together. I couldn’t believe it.”
A SPECIAL MASS
The feast of Corpus Christi, also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is a major feast, one of 14 solemnities in the Roman Catholic calendar, and dedicated to honoring the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
“To celebrate Mass that day was momentous,” Fr. Francis said.
FR. FRANCIS ANG IS PICTURED WITH BISHOP KEVIN VANN, AUXILIARY BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER AND DIOCESAN CLERGY AND SEMINARIANS.
The newly ordained priest admitted the butterflies were heavy at the outset.
“I was thinking, ‘I hope I don’t mess up. I hope I say the right words.’”
Though, in truth, after having participated on the edges of countless Masses, there was little to worry about, and all went off without a hitch or hiccup. Another personally awe-inspiring priestly first awaited.
“I was consecrating bread and wine,” Fr. Francis recalled with a sense of wonder.
A sacramental authority granted only to ordained priests and bishops, transforming the physical items into the Body and Blood of Jesus and reciting the Eucharistic Prayer in the person of Jesus, are among the most sacred and highest duties of a priest.
And here it was. Fr. Francis was preparing the Eucharist, for real. It is easily the single moment every would-be priest prepares for and dreams about. And so, it was for Fr. Francis.
“What an honor and a privilege for me to do that,” he said.
Nearing the end of the Mass, Fr. Francis, the older of two brothers to enter the seminary, presented his mother with the manutergium, the small linen towel used to wipe holy oil from the hands of the new priest anointed by the bishop’s hands. He then presented his father with the stole, or scarf, that Fr. Francis wore when he heard his first confession.
The gifts are a tradition in the church. After the parents pass and are called to heaven, the items are presented to the Lord symbolizing the gift they made to God by offering their son into His service.
“It was emotional; a lot of people were in tears,” Fr. Francis said.
THE BLESSINGS CONTINUE
Even before celebrating his inaugural Mass, Fr. Francis had the opportunity to perform another priestly duty when he performed an Anointing of the Sick for choir director Diana Fischer.
“She has seen me grow up,” he said.
Since that first Mass, Fr. Francis has been thrust into the whirlwind of work as a parochial vicar, offering blessings and trying not to look surprised when he’s called Father. He was recently selected to attend World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027. During a phone call, he was on his way to a hospital for an anointing of the sick and a Viaticum, the Eucharist for a dying congregant. The former nurse still finds it touching to be on the spiritual rather than medical side of end-of-life occurrences.
As Fr. Francis, 33, settles into his new vocation, he is struck by the coincidence and the metaphor of starting his new life at the same age as Jesus when he went to the cross, and what followed.
“I just died to my old life,” he said. “Now I have a second chance at life to do things the right way. I find that meaningful. I died (symbolically) but Christ lives in me.”